Oluchi Onweagba

"I think I reflect a lot of African beauty. I am African. And I am beautiful." - Oluchi Onweagba

Oluchi Onweagba reminds us of a young Naomi Campbell in the height of her mid-'90s supermodeldom, except that we don't get authorities involved when we see Oluchi holding a cell phone. Oluchi has appeared in several well-known fashion magazines and has graced the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition for several years running.

SEX APPEAL

In Oluchi Onweagba's mother tongue, her first name means "God's work." We certainly have to agree for two reasons: 1) Who are we to dispute the translation? And, 2) just one look at her and you'll reaffirm your belief in whichever god you're partial to. While some models are so thin they pull muscles just picking up an apple, watching the curvy Oluchi strut her long legs on the catwalk is one reason to not anxiously search for the remote when you happen upon the fashion channel. With her 6'2" frame, we imagine a night out with Oluchi would involve doing whatever the hell she wanted. We're OK with that.

SUCCESS

Oluchi Onweagba might not yet be a household name, but she's definitely on speed dial at men's magazines and fashion houses. She's made five appearances in the Victoria's Secret fashion show and has had four consecutive placements in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. We happen to own all four of those issues. Go figure.

Oluchi Onweagba Biography

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, along with her four brothers and sisters, Oluchi Onweagba never gave a single thought to modeling, engaging instead in normal teenage activities such as ping-pong and tennis. And who didn't skip class in high school to play ping-pong, right?

oluchi onweagba becomes the face of africa

Oluchi Onweagba finally put down the paddle when she entered and won a South African television network's Face of Africa beauty contest. Oluchi suddenly found herself being wooed by various modeling agencies.

She signed a three-year contract with the prestigious Elite agency (after which Oluchi Onweagba signed with DNA Model Management, which also represents such beauties as Amber Valletta and Doutzen Kroes), and soon found herself traveling around the world to appear in ad campaigns for companies such as Gap, Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret.

oluchi onweagba & sports illustrated

While landing the cover of Vogue is pretty much the highest honor a model can receive, we'd rather see the ladies in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition any day. Oluchi Onweagba made her first appearance in the 2005 SI, and she was so popular that she was asked to return for the 2006 and 2007 editions.

While Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell seem intent on proving that modeling careers never die, Oluchi Onweagba began preparing for a life after modeling. She received an associate's degree in business organization and management from NYU, and plans to take more business classes in the future. Oluchi also uses her business savvy and her growing fame to help promote entrepreneurship in her homeland, devoting volunteer time to such NGOs as LEAP and NIPRO. To top it all off, she launched her own modeling agency, OModel Africa.

She is still tantalizing men, however, making it into the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in February 2008 one more time. In 2009, Oluchi Onweagba will host West Africa's Next Top Model. Where can you see it? Where there's YouTube, there's a way.